


A Moment

by Karmi



Series: Cloti Fall Festival 2019 [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Almost but not quite, Complicated Relationships, F/M, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Missions Gone Wrong, Moments, Tension, friends - Freeform, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 06:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21441856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karmi/pseuds/Karmi
Summary: She decided that she would try her best to just be happy for this moment, for these moments. This was her life, and he was here.That was enough... right?
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Series: Cloti Fall Festival 2019 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545817
Comments: 23
Kudos: 74





	A Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So, I'm taking a tiny break from my other projects to celebrate #ClotiFallFestival2019! I'll be adding entries as a series of one-shots!
> 
> Don't worry, I'll be sure to update my other works soon!
> 
> Nov 15 Prompt: Family & Friends|Remake; "Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."

She had just put Marlene to bed when the door upstairs slammed open.

Marlene shifted. Tifa kissed her forehead and she snuggled further into her covers, fast asleep. The barmaid smoothed Marlene’s hair and made a note to scold them for nearly waking the little girl up.

At the same time, her heart almost leapt into her throat.

She heard muffled voices as she ascended into the bar. When she finally rounded the corner, she saw her friends. Her eyes immediately went to their leader as she approached. Barret looked irritated.

“I just got her to sleep and you all come barging in like this!”

He scratched the back of his head. “Sorry about that Tifa.”

She could only make him feel bad when it came to his daughter.

Her eyes softened. “You’re late. Did everything go…” She looked around.

Barret stood near Biggs, who clutched one of the chairs. Jessie was nearby, holding onto her gun tightly. Wedge leaned against one of the walls, his hand over his mouth as if he was going to throw up. They all had blood splatters on them, but no one seemed hurt.

_Where is Cloud?_

“Tifa.”

She whipped around at the sound of his low voice behind her.

“Cloud! Gaia, you scared me!”

He blinked, Mako-blue eyes staring down at her. “I’m sorry.” His sword leaned against one of the tables.

Tifa scanned him, her eyes widening at the blood that drenched his shirt and pants. She reached toward him. “Cloud, you’re—”

He grabbed her hands. “Don’t. You’ll get dirty. It’s not mine anyway.”

She noticed he’d already taken his gloves off. They must have been soaked too.

Barret huffed. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

Cloud’s eyes narrowed. He pushed Tifa away gently as to not get blood on her and walked toward Avalanche’s leader. “I couldn’t let Jessie take that hit. My pay goes down if someone dies.”

“Oh screw you, I can defend myself,” Jessie said weakly. She put her gun on the table and collapsed into the nearest chair. “I would’ve been fine!”

Tifa glanced between everyone. “What happened?”

“You were too focused on the bug,” Cloud said, not hearing her. “That guard snuck right up on you.”

“They snuck up on all of us,” Wedge whispered. Tifa strained to hear him. He turned to the others, his face white as a sheet. “I’ve never seen so much blood before…”

She felt so bad for Wedge. He wasn’t used to the more dangerous missions yet, and this certainly wasn’t supposed to be one of them.

Biggs put a hand on his shoulder. “Get a hold of yourself man. We made it out alive, didn’t we?”

Cloud scoffed, grabbing his sword and strapping it to his back. “I want my money in the morning.”

Barret growled. “You’ll get your damn money! But I’m docking it anyway for that blood bath you started!”

Cloud disappeared downstairs.

Tifa stared after him, then focused on her team again. She walked over to Wedge.

“Hey, you okay?”

Wedge nodded meekly. “Yeah… I’ll be okay.” He sighed. “Part of the job, right?”

Jessie shook her head. “Wasn’t supposed to be part of this job…”

Biggs took the clip out of his gun. “Yeah well, all those guards weren’t supposed to be there either,” he grumbled.

The brunette slammed her fist on the table. “I told you, I checked three times!”

Tifa reached out to both of them. “Please,” she begged. “You’re back here, and you’re safe.”

“Shinra’s gonna be on our ass now though.” Barret rubbed his chin. “We gotta lay low for a while.”

The barmaid folded her arms. “Well, more time with Marlene, right? That’s good.”

Barret grunted. “She asleep you said?”

“Yeah.”

He went down into the bunker.

Tifa turned to the others. “Are you all sure you’re good?”

The three responded silently.

“Make sure you get some sleep then. I’ll make a good breakfast in the morning for everyone!”

Wedge finally smiled at that. “Thanks Tifa.”

* * *

Tifa found Cloud’s discarded clothes in the basket next to her door. His sword leaned on the wall. She figured he was washing up and took his clothes to the wash bin in the corner. As she scrubbed the stains out of his pants, he entered her room.

Cloud stood in the doorway for a moment after he closed it, staring at her. He was only wearing briefs.

She blushed, turning away from him. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Yeah… sorry. Left my pants in here…”

She heard him walk to the dresser and rummage around.

When he was done, he sat in the chair across from her and grabbed his soiled shirt and a brush. He had on a pair of pajama pants now.

“You didn’t have to do this Teef.”

She watched him, eying the scar in the middle of his chest. She'd seen it before, and it pained her every time she looked at it.

_What happened to you?_

“It’s okay. I didn’t want the stains to settle in,” she answered.

He nodded and began scrubbing. “Thanks,” he said after a few minutes.

“No problem Cloud.” She went back to his clothes. “So… what happened tonight?”

His face remained blank, but he began scrubbing harder. “We got ambushed.”

Tifa’s knuckles whitened with how hard she gripped the brush. Cloud continued.

“It was supposed to be in and out.” He sighed, wringing the shirt out before he kept scrubbing. “But when we reached the target and planted the bug, an infantryman snuck up on Jessie. We weren’t supposed to kill anyone if we could help it…”

She looked up at him as she squeezed the excess water from his pants. “Cloud…”

“There were ten or so guards.” He shrugged. “We took care of them. I thought that was the point.” He threw the brush into the wash bin and wrung the shirt out again. “I don’t get what Barret’s problem is.”

“It was just supposed to be an infiltration mission, right? Less bloodshed, less attention.”

“Yeah.” He stood to hang the shirt on the clothesline in the window. “But “just in case” happened. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

She got up to hang his pants. “You are… They just weren’t expecting that. I know I wasn’t. But I’m glad you’re back here, safe.”

Cloud grumbled something as Tifa tossed the water from the wash bin into the alley. Someone cursed from below. When she leaned out to apologize, the man’s attitude changed. He whistled and made a lewd suggestion that involved her mouth and his—

Cloud leaned out of the window and glared at the stranger. The man cursed again and trudged off.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

He trained his eyes on her. Her face was flushed.

“Does that happen often?”

Tifa bit her lip. “Not in this part of the slums. Maybe he’s from sector three…”

She could feel him staring at her even when she looked away. The red tint across her face deepened, and she made a beeline for the dresser to find her nightclothes. He turned around to give her privacy.

She unclipped her suspenders before shedding the rest of her clothes and arm guards. She kept her bra on, a habit she had developed when she went to bed since he came here and started sharing her room. She didn’t like it, but it was better that way. Didn’t want any awkward brush-ups, she told herself (even though they had plenty anyway).

After she’d pulled on a pair of cotton shorts, however, she heard him moving across the room. Suddenly, he was standing behind her, his hands on her arms as she held her t-shirt in her hands. She froze.

“I didn’t like what he said to you.”

Tifa blinked. “I-it’s fine.” Was he still on this?

He started moving his hands up and down her arms. “But…”

She licked her lips. “But what…?”

He tugged on her lightly, silently asking her to face him. Tifa gulped and obliged.

His eyes almost seemed to shine in the dimly lit room as he stared at her. He rarely looked at her like this, except for times where they’d wake up in an awkward position or a customer would get handsy with her. It excited her every time... and even frightened her a little bit.

_What’s going on behind those eyes…?_

“Cloud?”

“Tifa…” he breathed in her ear as he gently pulled her closer. One of his hands went from her arm to her chest. His finger softly traced the top of her scar to her bra. Her breath hitched in her throat.

There was a confidence about him that she would have never imagined from the shy, angry boy of their childhood. Sometimes she found herself wondering if this was the man that boy really became and if so, where did this sense of certainty come from?

_To be in SOLDIER…_

That had to be it.

“Tifa,” he said again. His eyes were locked with hers, searching. She licked her lips again and swallowed. She didn’t know how to respond.

He moved slowly, gauging her reaction. One hand grabbed her chin, his thumb running along her lower lip. The other glided down to her waist. His mouth found her neck, which he peppered in delicate, slow kisses. When he nipped her, she whined and dropped her shirt, wrapping both arms around his neck. Her fingers tangled in the hairs on his nape, her eyes closed. He sucked lightly where he’d bitten her and groaned.

This felt _way _too good.

He took a step toward the bed. She didn’t stop him. One hand slid down and cupped her rear, the other rested on the back of her thigh. He lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around him and stared down into those vibrant blue eyes, holding his face. He held onto her as he set a knee on the mattress to steady himself before laying her down.

She settled her legs on either side of him. He kissed her neck again as her hands roamed his back.

Tifa had a fleeting thought that this wasn’t right, that they should stop… but then his teeth grazed her collarbone. She tossed her head back with a whimper.

Her bra was beginning to feel too tight.

Cloud seemed to read her mind. His hands skimmed up her sides. He held her, his fingers on her back, sliding underneath her bra.

“Cl—”

He was kissing her then. His lips were warm against hers, but rougher than any of his other gestures. Like he was having a hard time holding back.

He started to lift up her bra.

Her eyes snapped open.

She pushed him, not with much force, but just enough to make him stop. They were both panting.

“We… I don’t know if we should,” she whispered.

She definitely knew she _wanted_ to. But… should she?

Her mind raced.

He’d been acting strange, so strange, since she found him over a month ago. There were things he knew that she felt like he shouldn’t know, and things he should know but didn’t.

Like what happened in Nibelheim.

Like their promise.

Tifa closed her eyes tightly at the thought. “I’m sorry Cloud.”

“No,” he said quietly. He removed his hands and laid down next to her on his side. “I shouldn’t have. We’re… friends.”

When she opened her eyes, he was clenching his jaw. Her next question slipped out.

“Why did you?”

He nibbled on his lower lip. She found herself thinking about how cute he was, despite herself.

“That guy… what he said… made me think about… you…,” he croaked, his face reddening.

Tifa’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

This wasn’t the first time he thought of her in that way, she knew. That look in his eyes when she accidentally brushed against him in bed and he would have to turn over… that was the same look…

“I’m sorry Tifa,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t…”

She took a deep breath and snuggled closer to him. He stiffened for a second, before tentatively throwing an arm around her.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

There was the timid boy she remembered.

She nodded against his chest. “Let’s not… dwell on it. Let’s just enjoy this.” He hummed in response, holding her tighter.

She could do that, couldn’t she? Enjoy this?

Cloud was finally back in her life. Avalanche was doing well, despite their hiccups. She would worry later about convincing him to stay, but for now? She had to admit, she was happy. Happier than she’d been or allowed herself to be in a long time.

She decided, then, that she would try her best to just be happy for this moment, for these moments, even if this never happened again.

This was her life now. And he was here.

That was enough… right?


End file.
